For the first time since the introduction of emergency quarantine measures in most of China, President Xi Jinping visited the country’s industrial center, Zhejiang Province. According to the South China Morning Post, this trip suggests that, taking control of the spread of coronavirus, Beijing wants to get the economy on its feet as soon as possible, but this can be difficult, given the fall in demand among its partners due to the pandemic.
On Sunday, March 29, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the country’s industrial center in Zhejiang, writes the South China Morning Post. According to the Chinese state-owned media, in this way Beijing wanted to show that it is beginning to work actively on rebuilding an economy that has been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis.
For a trip to Ningbo, one of the largest ports in the world, located in eastern China, Xi left Beijing for the first time after his visit to the Wuhan outbreak earlier in March. According to state publications, in Ningbo, the leader talked with employees of enterprises engaged in the production of auto parts, and found out what measures are being taken to resume work.
As the South China Morning Post recalls, almost two months in many regions of the Middle Kingdom there was strict quarantine, because of which many companies had to suspend their activities and the economy suffered heavy losses. And now, according to Xinhua, Xi’s trip to Ningbo has become “clear demonstration“The fact that Chinese industry is returning to work in an environment where the fight against coronavirus has become”new norm“. Now the PRC leadership is leading “two battles“: With COVID-19 and for economic recovery.
As the South China Morning Post emphasizes, Zhejiang is of particular importance to Xi, since he spent five years there, during which he successfully climbed the party ladder, and enjoys special political support. According to official statistics, last year Zhejiang earned 3 trillion yuan ($ 423.2 billion) in foreign trade – 13% of the national figures.
According to the Chinese news agency Xinhua, the economy of China is very export-oriented, so its viability is important not only for Beijing itself, but also to maintain the stability of the supply chain around the world.
Xi’s visit to Zhejiang, according to observers, indicates the intention of the Chinese government to bring the country’s economy back to life as soon as possible. Thus, Zhao Xijun, professor of economics at the People’s University of China, claims that the Chinese leader showed that taking control of all cases of coronavirus infection within the country, Beijing is ready to focus on restoring economic growth and opening markets.
But here another problem arises. If China is ready to supply, then the demand for most of its products with the spread of the pandemic in Europe and the United States is only declining. As stated in the Gavekal Dragnomics report, “China has successfully resumed most of the economy following emergency quarantine measures introduced because of the coronavirus. But now he faces a new problem: the threat of a sharp collapse in demand for its export products, due to the fact that buyers themselves now resort to quarantine“. This means that it is unlikely that the Celestial Empire will be able to build its economic recovery on a V-shaped schedule, as the authorities expected, experts say.
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